Best of 2012--Movie Edition!

[Green Lantern]

Ladies and Gents, we have reached that all-important time of year where federal law mandates that all good Americans comb through the list of movies they saw this year and ruthlessly whittle them down into a "Best Of" list, preferably consisting of 10 films that are sure to rank among the greatest films of all time. (Otherwise, what's the point?)

However, since hanging out on CUF is basically the same as doing business in international waters, we are beholden to no such dictatorial statutes so please feel free to list any number of great movies you saw this year (and maybe some you are still hoping to see.) I'll start:

I kind of went through and tossed everything I saw into a few categories so I'll begin with the movies that I thought were something special and would be the ones I would narrow down to a "top 10" if pressured (with the caveat that I still need to see Les Mis, The Impossible, Amour and Zero Dark Thirty.) Listed alphabetically they are:

• Argo
• The Avengers
• Beasts of the Southern Wild
• The Cabin in the Woods
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Django Unchained
• The Five-Year Engagement/Wanderlust (my "relationship comedy" slot)
• Holy Motors (my "bizarre, unclassifiable but also awesome" slot)
• The House I Live In (great documentary about the drug war)
• Killing Them Softly (am I the only one who liked this?)
• Lincoln
• Looper
• Moonrise Kingdom
• The Queen of Versailles
• The Secret World of Arrietty
• Silver Linings Playbook

I'll also throw in under "Flawed but fascinating works by great directors:"

• The Master
• Prometheus

There are also categories for "Solid but unspectacular," "Fun for the kids!," "Nice surprise," "Kick ass," "Harrowing but rewarding" and "Terrible" but I'll get to those later.

[MarkGrace]

I've been thinking about my list, and while I was desperate to see Holy Motors before compiling it, I don't think it's going to happen at this point.

[The_Douger]

I really felt the way they did Prometheus was crappy. It was such a cool idea, with a flawed plot.

My favorite movies I saw this year were Argo and Moonrise Kingdom.

For a Bond movie, I really thought they did a great job on Skyfall. It was cool to see the backstory there.

I haven't seen Lincoln or Les Mis yet, so I suppose those might be up there. I do want to see Lincoln, but I haven't had the chance yet.

[Green Lantern]

I've been thinking about my list, and while I was desperate to see Holy Motors before compiling it, I don't think it's going to happen at this point.

One of my resolutions this past year was to get out to see the bizarre stuff that I knew would probably play for no longer than a week in theaters and that was one of them. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that one. It is completely uncategorizable but I think I can honestly say that it is the weirdest (not in the pejorative sense, just a description) movie I have ever seen, a title previously held by Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (which featured a scene of human/catfish sex, if that tells you anything.)

[jay santos]

In my top 5:

Les Mis
Safety Not Guaranteed
Cloud Atlas
Moonrise Kingdom

not seen yet but expecting might shuffle things:

Django Unchained
Silver Linings Playbook

[MarkGrace]

I'm consulting my phone to see what I have listed. This is what I'm going with for 10 (not in any particular order):

Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild (Wuap, if you haven't seen this yet, you should)
Looper
Silver Linings Playbook
Your Sister's Sister
Shut Up and Play the Hits
Moonrise Kingdom
Cabin In the Woods
21 Jump Street (my favorite comedy of the year)
The Master (my #1 overall)

Honorable mentions: The Queen of Versailles, Safety Not Guaranteed, Magic Mike, The Dark Knight Rises, Les Mis.

I saw some people listing Like Crazy and The Descendants as 2012. Did those come out this year? I swear I had those in my '11 list.

Anyway, I figured someone would do an end-of-the-year list, but I was actually thinking it better to wait until Oscar time since that encapsulates the year better and by that time I will have seen Zero Dark Thirty, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Amour, Django, etc. At the end of the year I usually don't feel like the year is complete. Oh well.

[Green Lantern]

I really felt the way they did Prometheus was crappy. It was such a cool idea, with a flawed plot.

Totally agree. I thought the first third or so was absolutely thrilling and then it started to falter as the plot mechanics took over.

For a Bond movie, I really thought they did a great job on Skyfall. It was cool to see the backstory there.

I enjoyed it too, although in my "Superspy" category, I actually liked The Bourne Legacy better.

[MarkGrace]

In my top 5:

Les Mis
Safety Not Guaranteed
Cloud Atlas
Moonrise Kingdom

not seen yet but expecting might shuffle things:

Django Unchained
Silver Linings Playbook

Did you mean top 4? Or are you reserving a spot for something yet unmentioned?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Totally agree. I thought the first third or so was absolutely thrilling and then it started to falter as the plot mechanics took over.

Exactly. I was enthralled right up until the snake went down the throat. Then it was "You have got to be kidding." What a waste of potential.

[Green Lantern]

Anyway, I figured someone would do an end-of-the-year list, but I was actually thinking it better to wait until Oscar time since that encapsulates the year better and by that time I will have seen Zero Dark Thirty, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Amour, Django, etc. At the end of the year I usually don't feel like the year is complete. Oh well.

Yeah, it's kind of tricky because we tend to get a lot of the "important" end of the year movies as they start to trickle out during January and February, but I figure this thread can deal with some additions as they come. I also figured this would be a good place for me to correct any "blind spots" in my film viewing from this past year. Also, I wanted to get this list going before the Oscar nominations next week.

And you're right about Like Crazy and The Descendants. Both are actually 2011 films.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yeah, it's kind of tricky because we tend to get a lot of the "important" end of the year movies as they start to trickle out during January and February, but I figure this thread can deal with some additions as they come. I also figured this would be a good place for me to correct any "blind spots" in my film viewing from this past year. Also, I wanted to get this list going before the Oscar nominations next week.

And you're right about Like Crazy and The Descendants. Both are actually 2011 films.

Finally got around to watching The Descendants last month. Loved it.

[The_Douger]

Exactly. I was enthralled right up until the snake went down the throat. Then it was "You have got to be kidding." What a waste of potential.

Seriously.

I turned to my brother at that point and said "This is where this movie will turn in to a bunch of horseshit."

And it did. It really did.

[MarkGrace]

Finally got around to watching The Descendants last month. Loved it.

Be careful, Green Lantern didn't like it! He's not quite the discerning movie critic I am.

[Green Lantern]

My "Nice Surprise!" list (meaning they exceeded expectations, just came out of nowhere or had some outstanding element):

• 21 Jump Street (way funnier than it had any right to be)
• Chronicle (nice addition to the superhero genre)
• End of Watch (great performances by Michael Pena and Jake Gyllenhaal)
• Haywire (loved the action scenes in this one)
• John Carter (it got dumped on, but was a lot of fun and corny in a good way)
• Lockout (absolutely dumb, but self-aware and having a great time)
• Premium Rush (so purely and unpretentiously entertaining)
• Safety Not Guaranteed (Mark Duplass is awesome. Aubrey Plaza and Jake Johnson too)

[MarkGrace]

Haywire was '12? I swear that was '11 too. Did Soderbergh really get out two movies in one year?

I really wanted to see Premium Rush.